At the Monstrum booth at Shot Show 2023 they introduced me to a prototype weapon light that they claim could output 2000 lumens. It was so new they didn’t have a name for it. Four months later Monstrum sent me their brand new weapon light called the Raider X1.
The Raider X1 comes in a compact box containing the light and a M-LOK/Picatinny rail. The weapon light is made of 6061 aircraft grade aluminum which feels quite durable and solid. It recharges via a covered USB-C port at the rear of the wedged shaped body.
The rear wedge functions as an angled fore grip. Not quite pistol grip (as that would violate many state’s gun laws), it provides an ergonomic hand position. The lens housing also functions as a hand stop, preventing your hand from moving forward which is useful as a safety feature in bullpups, short barreled rifles or pump shotguns like the KS7/KSG.
An single activation button is located on the left side of the body. A press turns the unit on in its high output mode. In my testing, I measured approximately 1850 lumens; which is still plenty bright. Pressing the button cycles the flashlight from high, to low, to off. Keeping the button pressed for 5-6 seconds activates the strobe mode.
The Raider lacks momentary on or mode memory; two features I consider to be vital for a modern weapon light. This control scheme was standard for weapon lights 15 years ago and for those that are used to this scheme may be a selling point but not for me.
What is a selling point is it’s performance and durability. Monstrum states that it has a 60 minute run time on high mode. Fully recharged, I tested its runtime and found it exceeded it’s claimed run time by over 17 minutes (crapping out at 78 minutes). It’s built so tough, I ran it over with my SUV twice, and despite some small nicks and scratches, it survived un-dented and functional.
The Raider X1 did fail one of my tests: I found the unit did not meet to IPX6 rating it claims. I hit it with a high pressure water hose at various angles for about 15-20 seconds. A few minutes later, I found that moisture beads appeared behind the lens and lifting the silicone charging port cover, I found water weeping out of the port.
After a number of minutes the went into strobe mode and the activation button became unresponsive. I left the unit outside in the sun for a few days to dry it out. After checking the charging port for moisture, I tried charging it up again and it appears to be working normally. While water getting into the unit is failure, it’s recovery from its wet condition may be a positive.
Available from Monstrum: https://monstrumtactical.com/raider-2000-lumen-x1-flashlight-foregrip/
